What does it mean to call something authentic or fake? And how should we consider these terms
in relation to contemporary art? Distinguishing between fake and real, truth and fiction, fact and fantasy is part of our
negotiation with everyday reality and yet, within the context of art, issues concerning fakes, forgeries and copies pose profound
philosophical concerns. One can cite the presence of “fakes and copies” throughout recent contemporary art both
in China, from Xu Bing and Gu Wenda’s “fake” Chinese characters to Ai Weiwei’s experiments to Qiu
Zhijie’s tireless One Thousand Copies of the Orchid Pavilion; and internationally, from Sherrie Levine, Elaine Sturtevant
and Jeff Koons to current examples Jeff Wall and Jeremy Deller. The dictum “falseness rules the world,” assumes
the existence of its historically determined opposite: that there was a time when all was true and real. Similarly, to use
the term ‘fake’ implies the very existence of something genuine or real when all efforts to define this realness
are progressively more elusive and subjective.

With our surroundings increasingly dominated by the presence of fake
products, piracy, black markets, fake representations of culture (i.e. Beijing World Park, Shenzhen’s OCT and most major
tourist sites), and simulated experiences and environments, we have become accustomed to zones of ambiguity where ‘fake
culture’ outstrips the real, and questions of authenticity are routinely destabilized and made arbitrary. Such ‘grey
zones’ are most evident in the economic sector, where issues of copyright, piracy and counterfeits abound, but extend
also into realms of contemporary art and current understandings of cultural authenticity.

Forged Realities is an exhibition
that brings together ten artists from America, China and Europe to probe questions of authenticity, authorship, copying and
production as these intersect with art, culture and mechanisms of cultural representation. The exhibition examines the ways
in which artists reference fakes and copying in their practice and implement strategies of reproduction and fakery in light
of this critical point in our culture where the attribution of ‘original or fake’ carries overblown and at times
arbitrary significance. Sculptures by Kaz Oshiro and Stephanie Syjuco are designed challenge
the autonomy of the indistinguishable while juxtaposing the handmade with the blandness of pre-fabricated furniture.

Retelling,
recreating and appropriating existing narratives through film across different cultures or strategies with deliberate anachronism
are part of the work of Gao Shiqiang,Jonathan Monk; while Patty Chang’s
Shangri-La undertakes and documents her physical journey to a mythical place. Referencing China’s unique global relationship
with regard to copying and art production, past and present, is Ni Haifeng, whereas Qiu Zhijie’s photographs
looks at the ways in which self-conscious borrowing of iconic forms manifests itself on a more localized level. Referencing
the iconic work of Matthew Barney The C & C Karaoke Factory mixes strategies of piracy and the entertainment
industry with “high-art”. Works by Ai Weiwei and a collaborative piece Hong Hao
& Yan Lei lay bare the underlying assumptions and power dynamics within the artworld ten years ago and
form the basis for more recent experiments which, instead of copying or appropriating a specific style of artwork, now copy
the ubiquitous features of the contemporary art industry.